Sick walkers rescued after drinking river water on West Highland Way

A mountain rescue team is warning about the risks of drinking water from burns after two walkers on the West Highland Way became so ill they vomited through the night.

Lomond Mountain Rescue say they were called out by Police Scotland to two separate incidents in the space of a week on the popular long-distance walk.

One of them, a German man, was taken to hospital last week and on Tuesday the team was called out to help an American walker.

Both are believed to have drunk water from a burn near Conic Hill and became ill despite using portable water filters.

Visitors are being advised to drink only bottled water or from safe sources such as Scottish Water drinking fountains.

The first incident happened on Wednesday laste week when the team evacuated a German man who was described as "incapacitated" near the remote Rowchoish Bothy.

He had been vomiting since the previous evening and was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.

Then on Tuesday this week, volunteers from Lomond MRT were called out again, this time to an American man north of Rowardennan, by Loch Lomond, who had also spent the evening being sick and was unable to walk.

The team leader of Lomond Mountain Rescue, David Dodson, said both men had drunk from a stream around Conic Hill, most probably Burn of Mar, and became ill despite using straw-type filter systems - lightweight devices walkers use that remove contaminants as they drink.

"That area - where the West Highland Way passes through - is agricultural land where livestock can be found," he said.

"With so many walkers now tackling the long-distance footpath, there is an increasing issue with human waste not being properly disposed of.

"All too frequently, signs of human waste can be seen in the vegetation not many metres off the main footpath and inevitably, may be close to some watercourses."

Lomond MRT said that with two incidents in a week, they were advising people to drink water from known sources including bottled water and Scottish Water fountains.

The team said if water is collected from a stream there is no guarantee filtering alone will make the water safe to drink and recommended secondary treatment such as boiling or chemical treatments.

The area is within Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

The park authority recommends that people carry their own treated water to stay safely hydrated.

A spokesperson said: "While Scotland's burns and lochs may look pristine, they can carry invisible risks when used as a water source.

"If you absolutely must drink from a natural water source when outdoors, it's essential to boil the water first to make it as safe to drink as possible."

Similar warnings were issued after a spate of walkers on the West Highland Way fell ill in May last year.

At the West Highland Way, walkers are already taking preventative steps to avoid getting ill.

Daniel Labs and his three friends from Germany are laden down with large rucksacks as they are camping on the trek.

The group have packed filter systems and chlorine pills to treat any water they take from streams.

Daniel said: "We are not concerned, it's not our first time. We were in Norway, Germany and the Alps and we don't drink from the streams, apart from in Norway where it's considered really clean water."

Vikki and Lee Jones from Sussex are also camping. They said they wouldn't drink from streams as they wouldn't risk getting sick.

Lee said: "It's preparation at the end of the day, you just make sure you carry the water that you consume, and if you do have to take it from a stream, boil would be my minimum thing I'd do, I don't trust those filters."